1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a board lock, and particularly to a self-retaining board lock for use with an electrical connector to be mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connectors that connect an external device to a printed circuit board (PCB) are usually fixed to the PCB by means of soldering. To have the soldering operation properly carried out, the electrical connector has to be preliminarily retained in position on the PCB. This is commonly done by means of a board lock which engages with both the electrical connector and the PCB. The retention force between the board lock and a housing of the electrical connector is the key when inserting the board lock into a hole defined in the PCB. If the retention force between the board lock and the housing is insufficient, the board lock will be pushed out from the housing of the electrical connector during its insertion into the PCB hole. Thus, the position of the connector on the PCB cannot be secured. Different board locks are designed to solve the problem described above. Examples of such conventional board locks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,681,389, 6,217,378 and 5,827,089.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,089 discloses a board lock stamped from flat metal stock for disposition in a slot of an electrical connector housing. The board lock includes sharpened barbs formed on resilient legs thereof to prevent the separation of the board lock from a printed circuit board. The board lock is frictionally retained within the housing by action of upper and lower arms which frictionally engage the housing. However, after the resilient upper and lower arms are used for a long time, the friction between the arms and the housing will decrease and may be insufficient to retain the upper and lower arms in the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,389 discloses a lock pin for mounting a board-mount type connector on a board. The lock pin comprises an upper lateral arm, a pair of spaced long central legs respectively extending downwardly from the center of the upper lateral arm, and a pair of spaced short outside legs respectively extending downwardly from the upper lateral arm along the outsides of the central legs. The central legs are adapted to be inserted into a lock pin inserting opening of the board. The outside legs have inside projections respectively formed at the lower ends thereof to be engaged with shoulders formed at the peripheries of a pair of inserting openings defined in the connector. The retention force between the board lock and the connector is sufficient through the outside legs which can engage with the connector securely. However, the connector needs to have additional inserting openings and forms shoulders thereon. This increases the cost of the connector and complicates the structure thereof. The dimension of the connector is significantly increased, which is out of the current compact trend.
Hence, it is desired to have a board lock that addresses the problems encountered in the prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a self-retaining board lock for being securely retained in an electrical connector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector comprising the board lock discussed above, which can be retained in on a printed circuit board (PCB).
To achieve the above objects, a board lock in accordance with the present invention comprises a pair of conjoint parts which is identical but oriented in opposite directions to be mirror images of each other. The pair of conjoint parts comprises a pair of base portions conjoint with each other at upper ends and abuts against each other, a pair of retention portions extending downwardly and transversely from corresponding base portions and partly overlapping each other for engaging with an electrical connector, and a pair of legs extending downwardly from corresponding retention portions adapted for engaging with a printed circuit board.